


A Light in the Dark

by tinktheloser



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Question Mark??, Slow Burn, starting out slow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 20:11:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17270327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinktheloser/pseuds/tinktheloser
Summary: Just some snippets of these beautiful characters, starting from when they met.





	A Light in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this fic is basically the equivalent of dipping my toe in this fandom pool. Have not played the games, only watched the anime, but Vlad and Lisa deserve so much better and I want to give it to them. 
> 
> But also (as a disclaimer because I haven't played the games) I don't really know the entire lore of this universe's version of vampires, so I'm just working with what I do know and some of my own headcanons about vampires. But we'll burn that bridge when we get there.

A steady, dual beat thrummed against his senses. The evening sun fell into fiery pools along the halls as the thick, heavy curtains opened, one by one, to greet the night. Though the light was still an enemy, it didn’t seem too keen on truly harming him.

That being said, Ţepeş had to endure a small sting across the skin of his face as he peered through the window. Old as they were, his eyes still saw many times more than even the sharpest of humans. And silhouetted by the bright sun descending behind them was a figure, faint and distant. They’d paused at the edge of the vast fields of the impaled.

He hummed to himself. A step forward, a burst of air, and he approached the door to his study halfway across the castle.

Ţepeş needed only to lift his hand towards the shards of his mirror. They quickly assembled, and his reflection faded into someone entirely different. His brow lowered in a light frown.

The woman in the mirror stood facing away from him, gazing intently at the towering castle, imposing even far away. No, it seemed rather she was looking at the ancient corpses marring the landscape. A hand drifted to cover her mouth, nose scrunched with repulsion.

Ţepeş watched with the mildest of interests, curiosity being the sole enabler. Many humans had once stood in the same patch of barren dirt she now occupied. Of those, few had dared step further once they’d witnessed his gruesome… _creations._ He wondered what she would choose.

While he couldn’t strictly _hear_ her pulse, the beat of warm blood glowed in his mind like embers. And among his sea of cold and dark, it was as though she’d brought with her a pyre. The pulse had quickened when she’d laid her gaze upon the land, a stuttering torch in the wind.

She stood there a long, long moment. Ţepeş could almost predict each of her movements. She would turn away, perhaps with distraught tears on her cheeks, and stumble back towards the road she’d undoubtedly lost. If she tried spreading her tale, unrest would grow, resulting in one of two happenings. The first involved throwing the woman to the flames, the second would see a mob sent to his doorstep. Or even both, as history had taught him.

The woman, unaware of his musings, lowered her hand again, and with it she drew the knife tucked in her belt. She stepped forward and cautiously began the journey through the field of decay.

Curious. Perhaps _she_ was the mob.

Not once did she falter, not until a storm of bats emerged from the shadows. Ţepeş peered through their eyes, guiding one to grab at her clothes and golden hair, if only to gauge her reaction. A blade swiftly ended the bat’s life, and the woman brushed herself off and approached the front door.

Two strong beats of her fist echoed through the castle. Her heart had steadied, a bright light upon his step.

A quiet laugh fell from his lips, startling him. Bold of her to expect entry into his fortress, without even considering other methods to force entry. Instead, she knocked, and waited.

Before he realized what he was doing, Ţepeş had lifted his hand toward the main entrance. The low groans of the locking mechanisms echoed through the halls. He watched for a moment as the woman determinedly put aside her fear and crossed the threshold. Then, he turned towards his door.

He would greet his guest, at the least.

* * *

“My goodness!”

The woman, Lisa of Lupu, darted back and forth through the main laboratory, gasping variants of the phrase each time she found something she didn’t recognize. Ţepeş rarely found himself surprised. Even when she had declared her interest in science, he’d been skeptical. The term itself had several meanings across cultures. For him, of ancient mind, it was the study of the world around them, the ambitious pursuit to know _everything_. The world just outside his own, however, believed science to be an instrument of evil, a devilish practice performed by those who hated God.

They were partially correct. If a God truly existed, then Ţepeş would surely hate him.

Strangely, Lisa appeared only delighted by his past experiments and mechanical creations. The electric torches held her scrutiny, it being among the flashiest.

“How on _Earth_ did you stuff lightning in a _box_?” she murmured, leaning toward it and resting a finger on her chin. Then she looked up, smiling sheepishly as though she’d just realized her words had been aloud. “Well, I’m certain there’s a logical process involved,” she added, a hint of color blossoming in her cheeks. “But, to my eyes now, it almost looks like…”

Ţepeş couldn’t recall fighting so hard to tamper a smile. “Magic?” he offered.

Lisa ducked her head and clasped her hands behind her back. “Just so.”

He watched as another trinket caught her attention, her brow lifting high and mouth opening around a small gasp. She drifted towards a shelf of flasks and vials. Some held natural ingredients, others contained small samples of chemical compounds he’d been tinkering with. Her fingers hovered over the labels as though she fought the urge to fiddle around.

“Such fine glass,” Lisa said, mostly to herself. “Like proper paper. And I recognize maybe… two of these names.”

The cloak barely whispered as Ţepeş slowly moved around the room, unable to draw his gaze from her. He was careful to remain in her line of sight, even as her attention steadily grew more focused on the instruments and ideas around her.

Ţepeş rarely felt surprise, not after so many long years. But, he confessed to himself, this human woman had caught him off guard within an hour. So comfortable with solace was he, a god of darkness, that he couldn’t bring himself to accept change.

And now, change had swept into his domain, criticized his hospitality, and demanded a share of his hoarded knowledge. He doubted she’d even take no for an answer.

Ţepeş sighed quietly, realizing with an idle fascination he didn’t even _want_ to reject her. It seemed out of the question, like a decision made without his permission. But maybe, perhaps, his blessing.  She didn’t cower from his works, and she barely batted an eye at his own odd behavior. He'd put on a few theatrics for her, watching each of her reactions. When he’d drawn close, his fangs nearly touching her bare neck and his hand held ready to strike, he’d not expected for her to turn around and _glare_ at him.

A woman of science, indeed. The thirst for knowledge glittered in her eyes, a craving to learn and absorb all that surrounded her. He knew the look well.

The corners of his lips twitched. Lisa of Lupu was here to stay, for the time being.

* * *

Lisa had at least a _few_ ideas for what she might find when she’d first started this journey. An abandoned ruin hiding the wisdom of the ancients. A loon hermit spouting nonsense of the gods. Or even a great bundle of nothing.

Vlad Dracula Ţepeş had not been on that list.

Lisa looked around the bedroom suite they had given her. She hadn’t even asked for room and board—perfectly content with commuting. Yet Ţepeş had wordlessly guided her through the long halls lit by both flame and electric torch, politely listening as she babbled with questions. They passed great halls of roaring fireplaces and dining tables that could sit dozens. Tall, imposing sculptures lined the stone walls, broken up by paintings of remarkable skill. And before she realized it, they stood inside a room larger than her entire childhood house.

At her confused frown, Ţepeş explained, “Your living quarters.”

Lisa blinked. “My—? What do you mean?”

He tilted his head towards her. “If you’d intended on returning home, you should have left several hours ago,” he replied. “You would be wise to remain here while under my tutelage.”

And how could she say no to _that?_

Now, she drew her fingers across the bedsheets, taking a moment to absorb all she could see, since he’d left. She sat on the bed, carefully sinking into the plush mattress she was certain would swallow her. Everything she touched was softer than anything she’d known, even the cloths used by the Church.

His tutelage, he’d said. Lisa’s hand drifted toward her neck, gently touched where his warm breath had caressed her skin. He had made every move intending to frighten her, upon her arrival. Dashing around in the shadows, casting his voice across the room, suddenly appearing behind her and pressing close to her most vulnerable areas. Clever, really, and effective. She was certain he’d heard her heart hammering away and seen the faintest tremble in her shoulders.

The problem she now encountered was this; had it been fear that sped her pulse, or excitement?

Lisa sighed and looked around her new bedroom. The windows took up two-and-a-half walls, from the floor to the ceiling. Thick, grand curtains filtered the disappearing sunlight, drawn by elegant, golden ropes. A great rug covered the stone floor, patterned with flowers and stars as though they were a script. She slipped off a shoe and dug her toes into it. Soft as down feathers and plusher than her old bed pillows.

The most she’d expected from this venture was scraps of helpful information. Even when Ţepeş had accepted her into his home, she’d assumed she’d explore his laboratories and learn everything for herself. But… he’d said his _tutelage_ , which meant—goodness, that meant she was to be his _apprentice_. It was more than she could have ever wished for.

She wondered what sort of teacher he’d be. Those eyes of his held wisdom and experience far beyond what she could imagine, the years had etched into his noble features with a sculptor’s hand. And his gaze was _heavy_ , weighted with hundreds of thoughts at once. If only she could peer inside his mind, just to see how it worked—

Lisa suddenly flopped backwards and rolled around the bed until she nearly buried herself in its many blankets. Her heart jumped and skipped, and she let out a loud sigh as her body settled. There would be no use for this childish interest of hers in this mysterious man. If she was to be his student, she’d be as professional as they came.

As her vision dimmed with the fading light, dipping her in a light doze, she dreamed of diving into a sea of books and scrolls, and a deep, soft voice whispering to her forbidden knowledge. She could only hope that this dream would soon be her reality. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Not really much happening in this chapter, but I'll get more in depth as we go on.


End file.
